A couple of quick nuggets of trivia for those who are interested in real estate agency law in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Nesbitt Realty is licensed in Virginia.
Pat is a licensed agent in the Commonwealth of Virginia who sells, rents and manages real estate for others for a fee. Pat contacts a homeowner named Al in an attempt to obtain a listing for Al's property. When must agency disclosure be provided to the Al and his wife Jane?
Agency disclosures must be made when there are substantive discussions about a specific property. In this case, agency disclosures must be made at the time the Al and Jane agree to list the property because there will be substantive discussions when or if the seller agrees to list.
Tom is Pat's broker. A prospective buyer named Omar enters Tom's office. Omar is directed into the conference room. Tom sits down and discusses finances with Omar to financially qualify the buyer. Tom then hands Omar off to Pat. Omar and Pat begin to review the available property that is within Omar's financial limitations and also meets the wants and needs of the buyer.
When is the agency relationship disclosed?
When Omar expresses an interest in a particular piece of property, agency disclosure is required. This is correct because Virginia regulations state that disclosure is required before substantive discussions about a specific property.
For more information or to set up an appointment call Nesbitt Realty at (703)765-0300.
On the roof at Waterview in Arlington VA
Fairly recently the Commonwealth of Virginia implemented new laws requiring an agency relationship prior to showing homes. (Effective July 1st, 2012, the Commonwealth of Virginia required an agency agreement prior to showing homes to clients.) This can be frustrating to some folks who "just want to see houses". Once you've signed an agency agreement we can run out to look at houses, but we've found this to be generally ineffective.
Instead, we prefer to take a little time to answer your questions, give you a copy of all the documents you’ll be seeing, and put you in a position to make better decisions. The choice is yours, and I think you will find the second way extremely valuable.
Established in 1974 with a mission to reduce homelessness, increase community support and promote self sufficiency, the Good Shepherd Housing and Family Services is operated by a multi-denominational board of directors and staff managing over 70 housing units. Good Shepherd Housing and Family Services is located in the Mount Zephyr Business Center at 8305 Richmond…
Stuart Nesbitt, a chip off the old block
A buyer agent is a real estate agent that represents the buyer. A Listing Agent is an agent that represents the Seller. The buyer agent does not get paid to show homes to clients. A buyer agent only gets paid if the buyer contracts for and purchases a home.
Your buyer agent can show you one house or show you dozens of houses. Your buyer agent can work with you one day before writing an offer for you to purchase a home, or your agent can work with you for months. Often, a buyer agent will tour houses with their clients to get better understanding of what the client wants. The buyer's agent also does extensive research of the local real estate market. Once the buyer agent has identified a number of prospective purchases the agent follows up with phone calls to listing agents. The wise buyer's agent calls listing agent to learn details which my exclude some homes and bring other homes to the forefront.
After a buyer finds a home to purchase, the buyer agent works to prepare and present the offer, negotiate the contract. The agent attends to deadlines, inspections, appraisals, loan approval,o ordering title and so on. In order to perform these duties, the Commonwealth of Virginia requires the broker and prospective buyer sign a Buyer Agency Agreement. Some of the points addressed in that Agreement are:
The type of property the buyer seeks
The length of time the agreement will be in effect
The duties and responsibilities of a buyer's agent
A commitment to protect the buyer's privacy
The nature of the legal, ethical and fiduciary responsibilities of the agent
How the agent is paid. (The buyer does not pay any fee for a buyer's agent.)
The buyer acknowledges that they are not the client of another Broker.
The agreement makes clear that we will not unlawfully discriminate against any prospective Seller
The purpose and place of legal and tax counsel
The agency agreement is governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia
The agreement may contain additional provisions that might be unique to this particular relationship between the buyer and the agent
Nesbitt Realty is licensed in Virginia.
Virginia replaced the common law of agency with legislation that governs agency relationships in Virginia. The principal broker is responsible to ensure compliance with Virginia agency obligations, including keeping records of specified agency disclosures and following various duties owed to clients and customers. However, both the principal broker and any salesperson or associate broker may be disciplined for violating Virginia Agency Law. A Virginia agency relationship begins when a client engages a licensee. An agency terminates when the parties complete the objectives of the representation, or mutually agree to terminate the relationship. The relationship may also terminate where a party defaults or the client refuses to consent to a disclosed dual representation. Virginia licensees may provide brokerage services as a Standard Agent, an Independent Contractor, or a Limited Service Representative.
Brokers may establish a limited service agency with clients only by so stating in the brokerage agreement, and obtaining the client's written consent. If the brokerage agreement does not explicitly identify the licensee as a limited service representative, the limited service representative will be presumed to be acting as an independent contractor of the client. The limited service representative must disclose the following in the brokerage agreement:
Will Nesbitt
That the licensee is acting as a limited service representative.
A list of the specific services that the licensee will provide to the client.
A list of the specific duties required of a standard agent that the limited service representative will NOT provide to the client.
Nesbitt Realty is generally a full-service brokerage but we can act in a limited-service capacity by request.
These initial disclosures must be conspicuous and printed either in bold lettering or all capitals, and must be underlined or in a separate box. The Virginia Legistlature suggests the following language to include with these initial disclosures:
BY ENTERING INTO THIS BROKERAGE AGREEMENT, THE UNDERSIGNED DO HEREBY ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR INFORMED CONSENT TO THE LIMITED SERVICE REPRESENTATION BY THE LICENSEE AND DO FURTHER ACKNOWLEDGE THAT NEITHER THE OTHER PARTY TO THE TRANSACTION NOR ANY REAL ESTATE LICENSEE REPRESENTING THE OTHER PARTY IS UNDER ANY LEGAL OBLIGATION TO ASSIST THE UNDERSIGNED WITH THE PERFORMANCE OF ANY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE UNDERSIGNED NOT PERFORMED BY THE LIMITED SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE.
Virginia Law imposes specific obligations and duties on all standard agents with regard to: sellers, landlords, and tenants that standard agents represent in the sale or rental of property (seller clients and landlord/tenant clients); prospective buyers of property listed with a standard agent that the standard agent does not represent (buyer customer); and buyers that standard agents do represent in the location and purchase of property (buyer clients).
Read more about Nesbitt Realty's services and commitments to
